Friday, April 15, 2016

George Sugarman Sighting

Robert Boyd

Hey Pan fans--you might remember a post I wrote six years ago about corporate sculpture. One of the things I wrote about at the time was how a large sculpture from 1971 by George Sugarman, called variously the Saint Paul Commission or the Saint Paul Sculptural Complex, had been purchased by commercial real estate firm Grubb & Ellis and dismembered. The firm used the dismembered parts to decorate various office properties it owned in Houston, Austin, and I believe in the Woodlands (north of Houston). (Grubb & Ellis went bankrupt in 2012, so I wonder who now owns all these scraps of Sugarman's sculpture.) Three years later, I happened across a piece of the Sugarman sculpture in Austin. And this morning, as I walked through back streets in Montrose, I found some more pieces of it.


George Sugarman, part of the Saint Paul Sculptural Complex, 1971

Unlike the other pieces I've seen, these two were not well-maintained or marked with a plaque. The black struts had bits of blue paint from what I assume was an attempt to repaint the circular elements. But they were permanent--they were bolted to the ground.



George Sugarman, part of the Saint Paul Sculptural Complex, 1971

So what did this thing look like when it was installed up in St. Paul? I have found a few photos online.


George Sugarman, Saint Paul Sculptural Complex, 1971


 George Sugarman, Saint Paul Sculptural Complex, 1971


 George Sugarman, Saint Paul Sculptural Complex, 1971

This last photo is quite interesting. It's from the website of Lippincott, a firm that specializes in the fabrication and conservation of large metal sculptures.  The man in the picture is George Sugarman.

Friday, April 1, 2016

RIP Jed Foronda

Robert Boyd

One of Houston's most interesting young artists just passed away. Jed Foronda was only 30 years old. I first saw his work in 2009, right about the time I started this blog. He had two pieces in the Big Show that year at Lawndale. I really liked his work in the show which was made of "excavated magazines" and wood. Here's one of them:


Jed Foronda, The Wheels Keep On Spinning, primer, wood, excavated Artforum, 2009

Now in 2009, I was just starting to look at local art seriously. I decided I really liked The Wheels Keep On Spinning so I called up Lawndale and asked if they would pass on a message to Foronda that I was interested in buying it.

When Foronda contacted me, he seemed slightly suspicious. It was as if he didn't really believe I was serious, like maybe I was a scammer of some kind. So he asked me to bring $300 to a Starbucks near the Galleria on a certain day at a certain time. I met him st the Starbucks, handed him fifteen 20s and he gave me Wheel. I hung it in the front hallway of my Mom's house (and she really likes it).

Here are a couple of details of The Wheels Keep On Spinning:

 
Jed Foronda, The Wheels Keep On Spinning (detail), primer, wood, excavated Artforum, 2009

 
Jed Foronda, The Wheels Keep On Spinning (detail), primer, wood, excavated Artforum, 2009

Foronda has occasionally made an appearance in this blog--see this post, this post and this one. Thirty is a cruelly young age for anyone to die. I know Foronda was well-loved by many, and my greatest sympathy goes out to his family and friends.